A Beginner's Guide to Doctor Who

Note: With the eleventh season (or series, depending on what you like to call it) of Doctor Who on its way, and with a new female Doctor making her debut at San Diego Comic-Con, we figured this was a great time to look back at this guide to the show.

Your friends keep talking about Doctor Who, that amazing British sci-fi show with the alien guy and his time-traveling Police Box (no, not a phone booth, but it sort of looks like one). Now you’ve finally decided to check it out. You’re worried about whether you’ll be expected to wear a scarf or a fez, and then you discover this show has been in existence – in one form or another – for over 50 years!

Exit Theatre Mode

Sure it’s overwhelming, but don’t let that deter you! There’s a whole universe of adventure waiting (most available on DVD, to say nothing of audio dramas, comics, novels, and more), and with all that history there are a multitude of great places to jump in and join the journey. Yes, there are some silly-looking creatures or cheesy effects, but the show has always focused on strong storytelling and indelible character. So ignore the occasional bubble wrap monsters; after all, Doctor Who is the most successful science fiction TV show of all time (sorry, Star Trek). It even won an Institutional Peabody Award for its exceptional ability to evolve – regenerate? – with the times. Let’s get you started, and you’ll be discussing the details of Dalek timelines and TARDIS technology in no time at all! And yes, you’ll probably be wearing a scarf AND a fez…but they’re cool, so don’t worry.

The Doctor

The Doctor is a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey. He’s brilliant, eccentric, sometimes a bit difficult to like but ultimately a champion of justice and a defender of the underdog. He also loves the planet Earth like an adopted home. He is roughly two thousand years old, has two hearts, and possesses the ability to regenerate when near death, which not only allows him to stay alive but also completely alters his physical form and some aspects of his personality. To date, he has had thirteen incarnations (and corresponding actors in the role), although one of them isn’t counted as a “Doctor” per se (more on that later). And this isn’t taking into account alternate Doctors and other minor twists and turns in the mythos. The so-called “Twelfth Doctor” most recently on the show – played by the superb Peter Capaldi – is actually the fourteenth incarnation (and possibly even the fifteenth), but you can wait to get into all that craziness once you’ve watched the show for a while. And no, there’s really no limit to how many times he can regenerate; as long as people enjoy his adventures, the Doctor will surely go on. The new season will feature the first female Doctor, played by Jodie Whittaker.

The TARDIS

One of many time capsules created by the Time Lords, the Doctor’s TARDIS (Time and Relative Dimension(s) in Space) isn’t the most advanced or reliable, but it tends to take him where he wants – or needs – to go. It even has its own sort of consciousness; the ship once took humanoid form and professed its love. When working properly, its chameleon circuit allows it to blend in with its surroundings, but this one has been stuck in the form of a British Police Box for a very long time; he likes it that way and so do we. It’s also dimensionally transcendental, which means it’s bigger on the inside. Most of the time we tend to see the huge control room just inside the Police Box doors with its distinctive six-sided or round console and glowing time rotor column, but the TARDIS actually has a virtually infinite interior with a vast wardrobe, swimming pool, library, power center, endless corridors, and even older console rooms used by previous Doctors (the interior tends to redecorate nearly as often as the Doctor changes form). In fact, one time the whole ship looked like a disused brick hospital…but let’s move on.

The Companions

The Doctor seems like a solitary fellow, but he almost always travels with humans that help him to maintain a more compassionate perspective and see the universe through new and excited eyes. The vast majority of his traveling companions have been young Earth women from whatever time period lines up with the show’s current airdate. He began his journeys in 1963 with his granddaughter Susan and two schoolteachers, Ian and Barbara, but since then many have taken up temporary residence in the TARDIS. More recently, the Doctor seems to just pop in and out of a companion’s life, picking them up for an adventure or two then dropping them back home until the next time. In addition to his companions, the Doctor has a number of long-standing friendships and alliances through space and time, most notably the Earthbound organization known as UNIT (the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce, later the Unified Intelligence Taskforce). Once commanded by the Doctor’s close friend Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, UNIT is now led by the Brig’s daughter, Kate (Jemma Redgrave).

Exit Theatre Mode

The Tech

While the Doctor often relies entirely on his intellect, many incarnations – including all of the modern ones since 2005 – are never without their Sonic Screwdriver, a sort of all-purpose Gallifreyan magic wand that can unlock doors, scan for various energies, and do just about anything else the Doctor needs it to do…except work on wood. The Sonic first appeared in the Second Doctor’s (Patrick Troughton) era as a little penlight that could – wait for it – manipulate screws. By the time the Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee) arrived, the Sonic started to take more of a central role in his repertoire, setting off mines by remote control and providing a quick escape from prison cells. Today, we can’t imagine the Doctor without his trusty Sonic, but he’s also used things like:

Psychic Paper: Projects whatever sort of credentials the Doctor wants the viewer to see (although it doesn’t always work).

3D Glasses: Handy for seeing the unique radiation floating around an object or person that has traversed the Void between realities.

Diary: Once a 500-Year volume, then 900 and most recently 1200, it’s a good old-fashioned journal in which the Doctor has inscribed cryptic details about his myriad adventures. As a time traveler, however, his non-linear prose style can be difficult to decipher.

Celery: You’d think it was just a decorative vegetable, but this was crucial to detecting the presence of certain substances dangerous to the Fifth Doctor’s life.

Chameleon Arch/Fob Watch: It may look like a fob watch, but it’s a powerful way for a Time Lord to store his or her original form after the Arch hides them away by transforming them into another species. Both the Doctor and the Master have made use of this Gallifreyan innovation.

Perception Filter: Ever feel like no one notices you and you’re just blending into the scenery? Maybe you’re wearing one of these, something the Doctor once cobbled together to hide from the Master and his minions.

Hypercube: Another Time Lord device, this simple-looking glowing cube can send thought and speech messages across vast distances from one Time Lord to another.

Jelly Babies: OK, they’re not really tech, but they’re a strategically brilliant way to charm locals and even distract enemies. Would you like one?